3071-The political economy of new slavery

130 Bonded Labour in South Asia
industry. The General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT)
believes that indebtedness among the workers, especially those from
the ethnic Tamang community, may have led them into debt-bondage
(ASI, 2002b). Recently, Rugmark inspectors found 13 child weavers, one
of whom had been working for nearly three years against a loan of less
than £20 which his mother had taken from the employer. He never
received any wages.
Primary source
In the Indian states of Andhra, Bihar, Delhi, Hariyana, Punjab, Madhya
Pradesh and Tamilnadu, a significant proportion of workers in brick
kilns are in debt-bondage. As in other sectors, there are variations in
the types of labour and loan arrangements. In northern India, children
and adults are living in slavery-like conditions; a study by the Institute
of Development and Communication (IDC) revealed that children and
their parents are bonded at brick kilns in Punjab. The study conducted
for UNICEF and the Punjab State Human Rights Commission shows
that the school drop-out rate of children at brick kilns is 89 per cent.
Brick kilns chiefly employ migrant workers, with the largest numbers
coming from Uttar Pradesh. Seventy-one per cent of child labourers are
from the ‘scheduled castes’ – in other words, dalits and low castes.
Debt-bondage is also widespread in quarry and stone work. Local
and migrant workers, including children, work in quarries, often in an
exploitative environment; they are often bonded. The problem occurs
in Andhra Pradesh and is repeated in many states in the north and the
south. According to Vedika, an organization based in Andhra, children
between the ages of ten and 14 work in quarries. Mostly, they work to
repay loans taken from the stone businessmen during the off-season.
Usually, they work from 8am to 4pm and receive between R20 and
R30 per day (less than US 50 cents a day). Many children aged eight to
14 work in the cotton fields. The heavy work often is responsible for
illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis and tuberculosis.
In the export-related gem-cutting industries in the states of Gujarat
and Tamilnadu the workers are mainly men. They are paid in advance
for this work, but generally less than the government minimum wage.
Often, they are unable to repay the advance. This leads to bondage
and vulnerability. In Tamilnadu, those bonded are mainly the male
members of dalit families. According to Development Education for
Women (DEW), the workers are entitled to the minimum wage, but
may not receive as much. This results in continued indebtedness to the
employers, and bondage.